Sam Allardyce (talking to the Sunday Mirror): "Fan pressure there (St James' Park) is hostile towards the players. They don’t really support the team as they should, they’re very critical and the players can’t handle that.
“That’s what Scott Parker couldn’t cope with. He said he couldn’t play at Newcastle.
“Gary Speed told me when I went up there that it’s a very difficult place to play your football. If the fans don’t take to you, you’re knackered.
“I had spent a huge amount of time recreating a football club that needed recreating. That was behind the scenes, with an induction of staff who had moved with me.
“We’d created a whole new working environment, but that staff got dismantled over the next six months – the club appreciated nothing and started all over again.”
Scott Parker has not been a success at Upton Park either! So I suppose it's the Hammers fans to blame for that too.
Or then again ... perhaps he isn't up to the job.
As for Gary Speed, he said back in December: "Newcastle will go up, because the fabulous fans will drive the players on ... that's what they are like up there. They don't like slackers."
So perhaps Speed was just being nice to Big Sam ... rather than telling the truth ... the fat git is a manager who doesn't have what it takes to manage a big club.